I’ve been out of state for a long weekend, and my Tandem T-slim just bricked. Won’t recognize its reservoir. Getting a replacement Tuesday, but meanwhile…
Fortunately my away-kit always includes an injector pen of short acting, Not Lantus because, I dunno, it just seems excessive caution and having an infusion set get yanked or the like is fairly common but not having the whole dang system turn into a paper weight. Plus you can get along with just Fiasp for 24 hours, others have done it, right?
But how do you do it? Others with this experience I mean. Biggest problem, I’m finding, is not having all that information the pump contains. Like keeping track of what you’ve injected and how much is still IOB. I’m only about 5 hours in and that’s already a big concern. Just writing stuff down in Notes but prolly should start a spreed sheet or something. I’m concerned bout ending up stacking.
I’m wondering how others have dealt with this?
If you’re an Android user, I highly recommend installing Xdrip instead of the Dexcom app. There are ways to install both if you really need it. It has to be downloaded from GitHub and side-loaded, though, since it’s but I’m the app stores.
Xdrip is primarily a CGM collector with a lot more customization options, but it’s picked up a lot of extra features over the years, including an IOB tracker. I don’t know of any other third party app that lets you do that. At least not in the US. Usually it’s only FDA approved apps for specific devices.
Xdrip is great, I used the IOS-compatible version for a couple of years. Better data but I confess my main incentive was that it made it MUCH easier to extend sensors beyond the statutory 10 days.
I have all my pump-specific data in T-Connect, but the immediate problem is just how rusty I am at actually calculating a bolus and keeping track of the when and how much as I’m trying to keep basal in check.
Also, not being tethered just feels… weird. I don’t know how you others get used to it. LOL
I’m sure you probably already spent time on this, but you’re sure you can’t revive your pump?
It’s a little hazy, but I think there’s a little hole or something that has to be cleaned on the T-slim so that it can recognize a new cartridge. There’s also something you can press with a paper clip to do a hard reboot, I think. It’s possibly important to have the original charging cord.
Sorry for not remembering the specifics, but some years ago my pump failed and Tandem tech support decided my pump had a fatal error and shipped me a new one, but, in the meantime, I was able to get it working again by cleaning the port that releases air and doing a hard reboot.
Hopefully someone else on the forum might give you a more specific description. I switched to mobi so don’t use T slim any more
Yup Tech support walked me through that, but it’s a good point for anyone else reading this to know. It’s that little notch at the bottom that opens up when the cartridge is removed. Swab it out with alcohol & a q-tip.
Could try it again with a fresh cartridge now I’m home, but since they’re already sending a replacement due tom’w I don’t have to be on this untethered regimen much longer. Not bothering with Lantus for the same reason—more trouble than it’s worth at this point. I am going to make more of a habit of swabbing it out with the new one.
If it is actually “new.” Does anyone know if they send a reconditioned used pump as replacement? Seems I heard something to that effect. I want a NEW one, but…
One thing is that until the warranty is up, you’re technically leasing the thing from the insurance company not owning it. On my Byram statement it shows up as “Pump rental” and they pay it monthly. So they’re gonna do whatever they’re gonna do.
Oh my goodness. You are not alone, correct? You have a functioning CGM? You are gonna be delivering tiny little doses periodically.
What do you mean by stacking? If you deliver a unit a hour, would you consider that stacking? You are gonna have to do what you are comfortable with. In the past, I might deliver 5u at a time, and the not worry about it for a couple hours. But you need to judge this against your own comfort level, of course, and the activities you participate int.
Super stressful. Sorry this happened.
Overnights are the toughest and I would be cautious about stacking. Maybe you can go three hours at a time - so you only have to wake up twice overnight to check. I’ll do that.
If you typically take 1u/hour, there’s really no reason you can’t do that manually during daytime hours, but set an alarm on your phone so you don’t forget.
I push the limit on this and deliver three hours with a single injection and then just eat if there is a problem.
I had this happen recently. Of course I lost my pump because the mobi is so small I didn’t feel it come out of the pouch attached to my skin and it was never found.
I always travel w lantus and humalog and a few syringes.
It’s never as good as the pump, but it’s good enough to get you by in the short run.
I have one unopened bottle for all my trips and I replace it as it expires, except for this trip where I actually used it.
I took my average basal insulin from my pump and injected that number for lantus each day and gave myself the usual meal doses of humalog.
I only started doing this when I had a pump brick after walking through. Metal detector. And I had nothing to fall back on.
Still don’t know if it was the metal detector or just bad timing as I was way past warranty date on it.
Still I always carry my lantus even though now I use omnipods and I can just put a new one on, I still carry it. Takes up almost no space.
The other thing is a small O ring from the cartridge that sometimes stays on the pump. This has to be removed. In this poor picture you can see the O ring on a cartridge.
I’m interested in experimenting with MDI that includes basal Lantus. I’ve read criticism that Lantus, in many people, does not last 24 hours and taking 2 shots of Lantus per day avoids unnecessary glucose variability. Did you notice any effects?
Wondering what your experience was like and how many days did your MDI last?
When I destroyed the screen of my pump, they sent me a reconditioned pump. Too be honest it looked new and worked like new so really wasn’t an issue for me.
FWIW I was on Novolog/Lantus MDI for ten years between R/N and moving to a pump. 1 was doing 1 shot per day of Lantus, and even though it was a huge improvement over the old regimen I did struggle a lot with DP. One main reason for switching to a pump actually. I only heard years later about people splitting their Lantus dose, Certainly would have tried it if I’d known. But I don’t think Lantus fade could be totally held to account. I still have to set a pretty aggressive basal rate for my CIQ algorithm to work with, starting around 3 a.m.
I did MDI for a 11 days. It was ok but nothing like wearing a pump with an algorithm. I was in the 70% Time in range for that 11 days and normally I’m in the mid 90s.
I seem to do ok with one shot per day of lantus and when I’m not eating, it’s seems pretty good, but maybe splitting it would give better control.
I only use it for emergencies so I wasn’t really looking to get it dialed in as well as I could
Only 36 hours for me. I went zero carb and semi-fasting. I didn’t want to use Lantus because I didn’t want to have to deal with having that aboard when the new pump arrived. Hardest thing was having no idea of IOB, and Lantus would have just made that harder to figure. I’ve really become reliant on the pump to keep track of that for me nowadays. Last time I had to do this was pre-CGM, so that makes a huge difference too. I think that’s why I didn’t feel urgent about going to Lantus.
Thanks for the replies to my Lantus basal question. I want to expand about that but do not want to hijack your useful topic. I’ll start a separate topic.
You can’t count long acting insulin as IOB because it is designed to be basal. I was taking 24 units and so I was getting about 1 unit per hour as that is my average basal rate.
I only count IOB for bolus as I do while pumping. So if you take 6 units of humalog, you IOB is zero 4 hours later if you are on Tandem. I keep my duration at 3 hours but it works the same way.
You don’t need to calculate that basal insulin because your body is using that continuously, if that makes sense.
My doctor and nurse warned me about switching back to a pump with lantus on board, but the algorithm handles it perfectly. I just get reduced basal for a while and it returns to normal without going low. Lantus trails off very slowly and predictably.
Well, indeed, but I use an Omnipod so having that enormous winkle forcibly removed is something that has happened many times.
I’m very happy with the lantus solution. This might be because in the past I’ve played in environments where pumps and cgms and all that stuff become very unreliable but “Lantus”, I just inject it a couple of times a day and keep on playing. I should add that I’m not doing a youtube for Eli Lilley here; any NPH (etc) works.
I don’t want to do it and, yes, I agree, I could live out on Fiasp (though Regular would be better; no point doing extra nicotin in an already stressed out situation!)
Still, I don’t want to. The reality of living without a pump, even for just a couple of days, is that I don’t want to go back to that constant, low/high/angry/incapable routine (I was never good at fingersticking every hour.)
My Lantus pens are going to the freezer. I just don’t want anyone to take them away from me, even if I never use them.
